Sunday, January 21, 2007

The Mad Scrappers

Late-night games!Tables full of junk food!Door prizes!Overnight bags!Yep, my church’s women’s retreat is not a typical rustic, campfire, singing “Kumbaya” affair.I got to spend the weekend with really wonderful women who have helped grow me up and I’m not exaggerating when I claim that they are freaking hilarious.Full-contact, cross-country games of spoons and hard-core hikes in 45-mph winds are just some of the things that make these women are so much fun.As a younger one of the group, I’m more of a rare species, and stories about my wedding and being a newlywed jog their own memories.It’s a good time.

There was another group on the premises at the retreat center on the Chesapeake Bay.When I encountered participants in hallway, they wore slippers and oversized t-shirts with a giant logo emblazoned across the chest: the Mad Scrappers.A whole auditorium was devoted to what they called “cropping around the clock” and scrapbookers sat at tables covered with photos and craft supplies.In the background, elevator music hummed and an announcer held up crafty doodads that were available for purchase, of course.

Initially, the auditorium exerted a magnetic attraction for the avid scrapbookers in my retreat group.They nosed their way into the outskirts of the group, wondering what was going on. Upon discovering that the Mad Scrappers intended to have a marathon session of craftiness, the group became an object of fascination, rather than admiration.Did these people know each other?What compelled a person to sit at a table for a possible 48-hour stretch?Who could stand the background music?What if you didn’t want to buy anything?Wasn’t the announcer irritating?Were the slippers mandatory?

Unfortunately, the world may never know since none of us had the courage to ask one of the Mad Scrappers about their weekend.Speculation was part of the fun, really.